


The Shadow's Curse

by LadyKnightEllen



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Ableism, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Drama, Disability, Disabled Character, Dudley Dursley Has a Magical Child, Eventual Fluff, F/M, Family Bonding, Family Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Harry Potter Next Generation, I Will Go Down With This Ship, M/M, Not Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Compliant, Redeemed Draco Malfoy, Scorbus, Shipping, Slytherin Albus Severus Potter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2020-02-28 13:36:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18757495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyKnightEllen/pseuds/LadyKnightEllen
Summary: This story begins shortly before the 'Nineteen Years Later' epilogue from Deathly Hallows.Excerpt:... The table and the whole room were completely clean, whereas the rest of the house was coated in a thick layer of dust and grime that had been accumulating presumably since the house was abandoned. He was about to point this out to James, when a small cupboard opened at Albus’ feet. He yelled as a small bottle rolled out and  burst open, dark tendrils emerged in a flash, latching on to his bare toes. James screamed and slammed the book down on the mysterious substance and the small bottle it came from. Once Albus was free, the two boys nearly fell over each other in their haste to get out of the room and they raced down the stairs and out of the house without a backward glance...





	1. Chapter 1

Bare feet pounded the grass as the two Potter boys raced across the lawn behind their house. Their laughter wafted back to the porch where their mother stood watching them.  
“Don’t go too far boys!” She called out, and Albus turned his head long enough to wave at her before chasing after his older brother.  
“James, where are we?” Albus gasped when his brother finally stopped in front of an old crumbling house at the end of the street.  
“We’re going to explore!” came the excited reply. Albus glanced uneasily around at the old building, and then back at James.  
“But Mum said to stay close.”  
“We are close, and she never said we couldn’t go inside anywhere.” the mischievous glint in his eyes was all too familiar to Albus and he knew that James was going to go inside and explore no matter what.  
“Alright, fine. We’ll just look around, but I don’t think we should stay long. This place looks super creepy.”  
“Yeah! There’s no telling what kind of old spells there might be.” His excitement seemed rather misplaced to Albus, who had meant ‘creepy’ as a warning, but James Sirius Potter would not be deterred. Without another word to Albus, he pushed open the door and stepped inside. 

They found little of interest in the house besides some old books and empty potion bottles, and James was beginning to get restless, wanting to find something exciting and maybe a little dangerous. They were about to leave when they came upon the final room that they hadn’t explored, unlike the rest of the rooms in the house, the door to this one was closed and when they opened it, they found that it was clean and in order while the rest of the house was dusty and messy.  
The room seemed a bit odd to Albus, but he wasn’t quite sure why.  
“Hey James, maybe we shouldn’t go in here, something doesn’t feel right.”  
“Oh, you worry too much! The rest of the house was fine, why would this room be any different?”  
“I don’t know, it’s just…” He trailed off, huffing out an exasperated sigh. He knew that nothing he said would do any good.  
“Hey! Check out this old book. It looks like it might have some cool spells in it.” James picked up the large tome from the table where it was lying open. When he lifted it, Albus realized that the table was completely clean and there was no mark in the dust on the table where the book had been, because there was no dust. The table and the whole room were completely clean, whereas the rest of the house was coated in a thick layer of dust and grime that had been accumulating presumably since the house was abandoned. He was about to point this out to James, when a small cupboard opened at Albus’ feet. He yelled as a small bottled rolled out and burst open, dark tendrils emerged in a flash, latching on to his bare toes. James screamed and slammed the book down on the mysterious substance and the small bottle it came from. Once Albus was free, the two boys nearly fell over each other in their haste to get out of the room and they raced down the stairs and out of the house without a backward glance. 

Once they were outside, they stopped on the edge of the walkway and stood panting heavily until James finally found his voice.  
“Are you alright Al?” He asked, frantically grabbing his brother’s shoulders and looking him over for signs of injury.  
“I think so, what was that thing?”  
“I don’t know, but I have to admit…” Whatever admission James was about to give died on his lips as when Albus suddenly let out a scream of pain and then dropped to the ground, reaching for his right foot. “Al what is it? What’s wrong!” James dropped down to his knees, searching for the source of his little brother’s pain.  
“It’s burning!” Albus shouted, holding his foot in both hands.  
“What do you mean? There’s no fire, it can’t be burning! That doesn’t make any sense.” James’ voice was frantic as he tried to find the nonexistent fire. He reached down and moved Albus’ hands away from his foot and examined it while his brother continued to moan. While there was certainly no fire on Albus’ foot, James did find a small patch of skin on the big toe that did indeed resemble burned flesh. He watched in horror as the spot began to expand bit by bit along the toe towards the rest of the foot.  
“Come on Al, we’ve got to get home, Dad will know what to do.” James stood and pulled his brother to his feet. The made their way home as fast as they could with Albus leaning on his big brother’s shoulder. Ginny saw them coming and she came tearing down the front steps of the house, her red hair escaping from it’s braid and flying out behind her.  
“James! Albus! What’s going on! What happened!” By now, James had tears running down his face.  
“I’m sorry Mum, I’m sorry!” He sobbed as he helped Albus sit down on the bottom step. “It’s all my fault, I didn’t mean for him to get hurt. I’m sorry!”  
“James, It’s okay, just tell me what happened.” She sat down in between them and wrapped an arm around James while searching for the source of Albus’ pain.  
“We were exploring.” He sniffled “I wanted to look in that old house at the end of the street.” James was cut off by Albus, as he began to scream again and insist that his foot was burning. Ginny scooped him up quickly and took him into the house, James following closely behind. She laid her son on the couch in the living room. She pulled out what looked like a gold galleon from a small box on the mantle. She ran her index finger around the edge in a circle and then tapped it with her wand. A few seconds later, there was a loud crack from the kitchen and Harry came hurrying in to the room, holding and identical coin in his hand.  
“Ginny, what’s going on?”  
“I really don’t know for sure, but I think Albus has been hit by some kind of curse. James said they were exploring.”  
“It was that old house at the end of the street.” James said miserably, his face still streaked with tears. Harry gave a small quick nod and then bent down to examine Albus’ foot, while the boy continued to scream and cry.  
“I’ve never seen anything like this before.” Harry said “It looks exactly like burning skin, but there are no flames. And his skin doesn’t even feel hot.” His voice was full of fear and confusion, and it was punctuated by Albus’ cries of pain and James’ sobs of guilt. “We have to take him to St. Mungos Ginny. Whatever this is, it’s spreading, and I don’t know how to stop it. I wouldn’t even know where to begin. There’s no potion or curse I know of that could cause something like this.”  
“Okay, I’ll take James over to Ron and Hermione's. Lily is already there playing with Rose and Hugo.”  
“No! Dad, I want to go with you!” James shouted, leaping up to look back and forth at his parents and Albus. They all hesitated for a moment and, but Ginny knew that look in her son’s eyes. He was determined to go and if they told him ‘no’ he would sneak off and try to come along anyways.  
“Alright James, come with me and we’ll tell Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione what’s happened and then we’ll meet Daddy at the hospital.” James nodded slowly and then took his mother’s offered hand. Ginny leaned forward and brushed Albus’ wild black hair off his forehead and kissed him with tears in her eyes. Harry put his arm around her when she stood back up and pulled her close for a moment.  
“Everything is going to be okay.” He whispered before letting her go. She nodded quickly, blinking back tears and headed out the door with James. 

Harry scooped his son up into his arms and with a loud crack, he apparated to the front entrance of St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Once they were inside, he approached the front desk where a young witch was seated. Her eyes went wide when she saw who had just entered.  
“Harry Potter.” She said with a gasp of surprise.  
“Yes, yes, please, I need to see a healer immediately.” She glanced away from Harry’s face and seemed to suddenly comprehend the young boy moaning in his arms.  
“Oh, um...yes of course Mr. Potter.” She stuttered. Once she managed to regain her composure, she picked up her wand and tapped one of several small disks on the counter. It glowed red for a moment and then she turned back to Harry.  
“Follow me, the healer will meet us in the exam room.” She led them through a door next to the front desk and turned into the first room in the long corridor. Harry laid Albus down on the bed and within a few seconds, the healer appeared at the door and dismissed the young woman to return to her desk. If the healer was surprised by Harry, he did not show it as he held out his hand for Harry to shake.  
“Mr. Potter, I am Healer Francis. It is an honor to meet you, though I wish it were under different circumstances.  
“Yes, of course.” he said shaking the man’s hand.  
“Now, tell me exactly what happened.” He moved to examine Albus as Harry answered.  
“I wasn’t actually there for it, but James said they were exploring an old house and something grabbed his foot. It started turning black like burned skin. He’s been crying and shouting that his foot is burning, but there are no flames. I don’t know what could have hit him, nor do I have any idea what could possibly cause effects like this.”  
“I will admit, I’ve never seen anything like this either. You said your other son was there when it happen?” Harry nodded. “Well then, I need to talk to him and get a description, and perhaps I will be able to get some clue from that.”  
“My wife should be here with James any minute now.”  
“Very well, I’ll try all the basic healing spells, though I don’t have much hope that they’ll success, most curses are resistant to general counteraction. But sometimes the person that created the curse will be careless.” He turned away from Harry without another word and began to wave his wand and mutter various spells over Albus’ foot, which was now almost completely black and his ankle was beginning to redden as if the invisible flame was creeping up his leg. 

After a few minutes, Ginny appeared in the doorway with James at her side. Harry pulled the two of them into a quick hug and filled Ginny in on what the healer had said.  
“James, I need you to tell the healer everything you remember about what happened okay? We need to figure out what hit him so we can make it go away alright?” James nodded and Harry could see tears in his eyes threatening to fall again, and his face was red and blotchy still from before. He wiped the back of his hand across his face and then squared his shoulders before stepping past his father to stand next to the bed. Harry put a gentle hand on his shoulder and listened to him quietly recount their story. When James was finished, the healer simply nodded and looked back up at Harry.  
“Someone needs to go and figure out what those black tendrils were. Nothing I’ve tried has had any effect, the only way I’m going to be able to heal your son is if I know exactly what touched him. And we need to hurry, whatever this is, it’s spreading quickly. I highly doubt the effects will be able to be reversed, it’s more likely that we can find a way to stop them, but we can’t risk it getting any farther than just his leg.” Ginny gripped Harry’s shoulder and when he turned towards her, he could see the fear in her eyes. What the healer had not said was far more telling than his actual words. Albus’ leg was being consumed by that curse, and unless they found a cure, he was going to die; and even if they did find a cure, any part of him that was already effected, would most likely be lost.  
“I very sorry.” the healer said “I’ll do everything I can, but you probably know better than anyone, even magic has its limits.” Harry nodded, his face drawn and tense. He turned back to Ginny and started to speak but she cut him off.  
“Don’t do it Harry. I know what you’re thinking, but you have to stay here.”  
“But I have…”  
“No! You are not going to go off to investigate, you’re going to stay here and call a team of Aurors to get to the bottom of this.” For a moment, it looked as though he was going to protest again, but he finally relaxed and nodded slowly.  
“Alright, I’ll call a team, wait here and I’ll find the nearest fireplace. It’ll be faster than sending an owl.” The healer stepped forward and informed Harry that there was a fireplace and Floo powder in a room attached to the lobby. He nodded and exited, leaving Ginny standing next to James, clasping him close to her with one arm while holding Albus’ hand in the other. 

Harry returned a few minutes later and informed them all that a team of Aurors was on its way to Godric’s Hollow.  
“Very well Mr. Potter” The healer said. “All we can do now is wait. I think it would be best if I put the boy into a deep sleep. There is no way of knowing what this curse could be doing to him and the amount of pain it’s causing is very alarming, I think it would be best for him to be able to relax.”  
“Alright, if that’s what you think is best” Harry said as Ginny moved to sit down on the bed. She took Albus’ hand in both of hers. His entire body was tense and the hand was clenched into a fist even as she held it close to her chest. The Healer moved forward and pulled out his wand, he touched it to his forehead, whispered ‘Somnus’, and within seconds, Albus’ body relaxed and his hands went limp, finally unclenching.  
“Please let me know if anything changes, or if your Aurors contact you with any information.” Harry nodded to the Healer and he left them alone with their sleeping son. After a few moments of silence, Ginny suddenly glanced around the room  
“Harry, where’s James? He was standing right over there and now he’s gone!” The panic in her voice was evident, though she was clearly trying to stay calm.  
“I don’t know Ginny, but you stay here with Albus, I’ll go and look for him. He probably just wandered off.” He didn’t have to search long before he found James sitting on a bench in a small waiting area at the end of the hallway. His arms were wrapped around his legs his face was buried in his knees. He was shaking with quiet sobs. Harry sat down next to him and held him close, not sure exactly what to say.  
“Daddy, is Albus going to die?” He didn’t raise his head to speak, and Harry was glad, because he didn’t want James to see how afraid he really was.  
“No, of course he’s not going to die James, he’s going to be just fine.” He looked up and turned his tear streaked face to look at his Father.  
“You don’t really believe that do you?” they stared at each other for a long moment and Harry felt as if his son was staring into his soul.  
“I have to James” He finally whispered, and could feel the tears coming that he had been trying to desperately to hold back all afternoon. Once Harry started to cry, James dissolved into another fit of anguish.  
“It’s all my fault!” He sobbed “I made him come with me. He didn’t want to go inside that house and he tried to stop me, but I wouldn’t listen. He told me that we wanted to go back home, and that something felt creepy in that room, but I just ignored him and…”  
“James!” Harry cut him off and quickly knelt down on the floor and faced him. “Stop and listen to me please. This is not your fault.”  
“But I…”  
“It wasn’t your fault.”  
“But aren’t you angry with me for disobeying? Shouldn’t I be in trouble for not staying close to the house?” Harry let out a noise that was somewhere between a sigh and a chuckle.  
“I’ll admit, I am a little disappointed that you disobeyed your mother, but that doesn’t mean that I’m angry with you. It also doesn’t make you responsible for what happened.The only person who is to blame is the one who created that curse and left it in that house, do you understand me?” He nodded, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. “I will always love you James, no matter what happens, nothing could ever make me stop loving you. Do you understand me?” He nodded and after a moment, Harry sat back on the bench next to him. “All we can do now is wait” He said, putting his arm around his son. They sat in silence until the young witch from the front desk appeared and beckoned to Harry.  
“Mr. Potter, I’m sorry to bother you, but your Aurors have just arrived and said they need to speak with you immediately.” He nodded and sent James back into the room to wait with Ginny and readied himself for whatever news he was about to receive.


	2. Chapter 2

When Harry entered the lobby and saw the two men standing there waiting for him, his chest clenched in fear. Standing next to his head Auror, Morris was Draco Malfoy, his childhood nemesis who was now a consultant for the Auror office. There was only one reason they would have called him and Morris knew that he didn’t need to say anything. Wordlessly, he held up a small, clear bag containing an empty potion bottle. Etched on the glass of the bottle was the Dark Mark filled in with black ink. He stared at it, not wanting to comprehend what he was seeing, until, finally, Draco spoke  
“I’ve searched all my records to find all I could about any experimental curses the Death Eaters were working on, but none of them seemed to fit the description they gave me of the effects. I’d like to take a look at him myself if you don’t mind.” Harry nodded dumbly, still staring at the mark on the glass bottle; which he now held in his hand.  
“Sure, come with me” he said when he finally found his voice, and then he turned and headed back out of the lobby, Draco following close behind. The healer came in to speak with Draco while he examined the effects of the curse on Albus. He told him all the spells that had been tried and everything else he had observed. When they were finished, Draco assured Harry and Ginny that he would do everything he could to help Albus.  
“I’ll look over all my records again, and I’ll see if I can shake anything out of my father while I’m at it. He swears he told the Ministry everything, but I must say, I’ve never hoped that my father was lying more than I do now.” He took one last look at the blackness creeping up Albus’ leg. “I might search the Manor again too, maybe we missed something when we searched, it’s disconcerting to think that this was just sitting in an abandoned house, who know what else could be lying around.” Harry had never seen Draco look so terrified, his face had somehow managed to become even more pale that it was normally and his hands were shaking. Harry was about to ask what was wrong when Ginny spoke up from where she perched on the edge of the bed.  
“I’m sure there’s nothing left in the Manor Draco. Your family is safe. That house in Godric’s Hollow has been abandoned for years, and no one ever even thought to search it.” He seemed to relax just a bit, but he didn’t look any less terrified.  
“You’re probably right, but I think I might move everyone out for a few days to look again. I’ve got a really bad feeling about all of this, and I’d never forgive myself if something happened to my family or anyone else because I didn’t do everything in my power to get to the bottom of it. Hopefully I can find some answers fast; I’ll do everything I can to help your son and make sure that this doesn’t happen again.” He shook Harry’s hand and nodded to Ginny, and then left without another word.

The family sat in near total silence after Draco left, James sat on Harry’s lap and Ginny did not move from the bed or let go of Albus’ hand. They all tried not to look as the curse spread further and further up his leg. No one knew for sure how long it was before the Healer came back in the room and checked on Albus, before quietly asking Harry to come out in the hallway to speak to him privately.  
“Mr. Potter, have you received word from Mr. Malfoy yet?”  
“No, I haven’t heard anything from him or anyone else.”  
“As I suspected, in that case, I’m afraid we have no other choice.” He shifted uncomfortably and did not meet Harry’s eyes.  
“What do you mean?” He had a sinking feeling in his stomach that he didn’t want to hear what the healer was about to say.  
“We are not any closer to figuring out how to counteract this curse than we were when you first brought your son in, and it’s moving further up his leg every second. It’s passed his knee already and if we don’t do something fast, it’s going to kill him.”  
“So, what are you suggesting?” He was terribly afraid that he knew exactly what the healer was suggesting, but he couldn’t bring himself to admit it.  
“Mr. Potter, we have to remove the leg. It’s not an ideal situation, but it’s the only way I can see to save him. The curse will just continue to spread until it consumes him entirely.” Harry let out a long, shuddering sigh before finally responding.  
“Alright, if this is the only way, do it quickly before it gets any worse.” The healer nodded gravely and they both turned to go back to the room. 

Ginny seemed to understand what was about to happen as soon as she saw the look on Harry’s face. She stood up and pulled him in close.  
“Take James out of the room. I’ll stay here with Albus. I just don’t want James to have to see that.”  
“How did you…”  
“I’m not stupid Harry, I had a feeling this was going to happen, and as soon as I saw that Dark Mark, I knew; whoever made that curse, and put it in that house was trying to hurt someone, and they wouldn’t have made it easy to reverse.”  
Harry nodded gravely and after embracing her once more, he leaned over the bed and gave Albus a kiss on the forehead, then he turned and took James’ hand.  
“Come with me James, we’re going to wait outside and your mother is going to stay in here with Albus.”  
They went out into the hallway and sat back down on the benches in the corner and while they waited, Harry did his best to explain what was happening in a way that wouldn’t scare the boy. He wanted to be honest, but he could barely bring himself to say it out loud. Once he got the words out, James was silent for a long time before he finally spoke.  
“Can the healer make his leg grow back?”  
“No James, there’s no way to make it grow back once it’s gone.”  
“But Nana made my tooth grow back that time it got knocked out.” Harry smiled little, remembering the incident, James had been standing on a chair trying to make his toy broom go higher than it was supposed to before he had tumbled off and banged his face on the kitchen table.  
“She was able to grow your tooth back because it was just knocked out. Albus has been cursed, and when something is cursed off, it can’t be grown back. Even magic has its limits James.” The boy thought about this for a moment, Harry could almost see gears turning in his head.  
“So is that why Uncle George only has one ear?” It surprised Harry that he was able to work that one out so quickly, George told all manner of jokes about his missing ear and whenever one of the children asked about it, he told a different story every time, each one more fantastic and ridiculous than the last.  
“That’s right James, his ear was cursed off, so there was no way to grow it back.”  
“Have you ever heard of anyone getting their leg cursed off?”  
“I did know a man who was missing a leg, and even though he never told me exactly what happened to it, it was probably a curse that did it. He had a wooden leg in place of it.” He thought about that for a long moment.  
“Will Albus get a wooden leg?”  
“I don’t really know James, but I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now, we just want to make sure he’s safe.” 

Neither of them said anything else, they just sat with their arms around each other and waited until the Healer came out of the room and found them.  
“It’s done, he’s still sleeping, but the good news is that all evidence of the curse is gone now and he’s out of danger.” Harry shook his hand and thanked him before taking James’ hand and heading for the room. Ginny was sitting on the bed and she was holding Albus’ hand with one of hers and brushing the wild black hair off his forehead with the other. She looked up as they came in and Harry could see tears in her eyes, but she kept her face calm. James went to the bed and wrapped his arms around her, she kissed the top of his head and held on to both of her sons as Harry sat down on the other side of the bed. Albus had been covered by a thin sheet, but he could see where the fabric draped over his left leg, and then went flat where the right leg should have been. His heart ached for his son, and his head swirled with a million questions about what his life would be like now. Besides Mad Eye, Harry didn’t know of any witches or wizards that had lost a limb permanently. Images of Mad Eye’s clawed wooden foot leapt into his mind and he shuddered, he didn’t want to think about it. He looked up and found Ginny watching him, whether she had been thinking along the same lines, he wasn’t sure, but she took a deep breath and smiled a teary smile.  
“Let’s just be thankful that he’s alive, and he’s safe.” She said “We’ll worry about everything else later.”


	3. Chapter 3

Albus slowly became aware of his surroundings, he felt he was somewhere between sleep and wakefulness, and something felt wrong, but he wasn’t quite sure what it was. He remembered the old house and the black tendrils creeping out of that bottle and grabbing him, he even remembered his Dad bringing him to St. Mungo’s, but most of all he remembered the pain, the terrible, invisible fire creeping up his leg. He began to hear several quiet voices around him, but he kept his eyes closed, wanting to hear what they were saying before he let them know he was awake. His parents were there, and James, as well as another man who he thought was probably the healer.  
“The sleeping potion should be wearing off, so he’ll be waking up soon. It was quite a strong one that I gave him, but a sleep spell only does so much. He seems to be out of danger, so you can go ahead and take him home as soon as he’s fully awake and alert. I’m truly sorry we weren’t able to do more for him, but under the circumstances, there was nothing else to be done.” Albus wasn’t sure exactly what the healer meant by that last statement, but he heard his parents thank the healer and assure him that they were just grateful he was alive and well. He tried to remember everything that had happened, but he wasn’t even sure how much time had passed, the healer said he’d been given a sleeping potion, but he didn’t remember that. The last thing he remembered was his mother holding his hand as the firey pain raced up his leg. 

A million thoughts rushed through his mind as he continued to try and piece everything together, but before he could try to make sense of it all, he heard his parents whispering to each other. Their voices were low enough that he couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. The whispers stopped almost as quickly as they had begun and then someone sat down next to him and ran their hand through his hair. His eyes fluttered opened and his mother’s face was hovering over him.  
“Hi sweetheart.” She said “How are you feeling?”  
“I don’t know, I think I’m fine. But, what happened?” He turned his head to the side and saw his father standing on the other side of the bed. His face looked a bit pained, but Albus wasn’t sure why, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.  
“What do you remember son?” the question was calm and matter of fact, but he didn’t know what to say. A sinking feeling had developed in the pit of his stomach, what he remembered wasn’t good at all, and he was afraid of what he might find out. Looking back and forth between his parents, he plucked up his courage and then looked straight at the ceiling before finally answering.  
“I remember the old house and something grabbing my foot. Then it started burning, and it hurt really bad, and then Daddy brought me to the hospital and the healer was trying spells on me, but it didn’t stop the hurting, and then he put a sleep spell on me and everything went black. I don’t remember anything after that.” He paused, trying to read the expressions on his parents faces. “The burning is gone now, but something doesn’t feel right. Wh-what happened while I was asleep?” Albus could feel tears prickling behind his eyes, trying to escape, but he held them back. He would not cry, not when his mother looked like she had already been crying half the night. Her hand was still fidgeting with his hair and the other was gripping the sheet when she finally took a deep breath and looked up at Harry, who nodded and took his hand.  
“Albus, sweetheart, while you were asleep we were trying to figure out how to stop the burning, but no one could.” His stomach twisted in knots and he didn’t want to hear what came next. Before she could say anything else, he let go of Harry’s hand and reached down, afraid of what he would find, but he had to know. His hand shook ever so slightly has he slid his fingers down his own body, they reached his waist and then moved down to his hip, and then there was nothing. Slowly, he pushed himself into a sitting position, the movement felt odd and lopsided, and he sat in silence and surveyed his new reality.  
Harry put a hand on Albus’ shoulder, and he looked up to meet his gaze.  
“Dad, what am I supposed to do now?”  
“I don’t know, but we’re just going to take it one day at a time, okay? That’s all we can do.”  
“Okay.” Ginny took his other hand and when he turned to look at her, she had tears in her eyes.  
“Mummy, please don’t cry.” She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and then pulled him into a crushing hug.  
“I’m just happy to see you awake.” she whispered as she held him. “For a while there, I wasn’t sure if I would ever see you with your eyes open again.” When she finally released him, he had begun to cry too, despite his efforts to remain calm. Ginny took his face in her hands and wiped the tears away before kissing him on the forehead. 

James had been uncharacteristically silent throughout this whole exchange. Albus could see him sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, watching their interaction, but not participating and barely moving at all.  
“James, come join us.” Harry’s voice was gentle and he held out his hand to James, who got up a bit reluctantly and perched at the foot of the bed. He glanced at his brother and then looked down at the floor.  
“That was some adventure huh?” Albus said, hoping to get some sort of reaction out of James. His silence and demeanor were very disconcerting. It was usually impossible to get him to be quite and still for more than a few seconds. A strange mixture of surprise, pain, anger, and amusement played across James’ face and he look up at Albus with his mouth open as if to speak. He didn’t seem to know how to respond, so he just sat there staring, open mouthed and silent. Finally he found his voice and stammered out a response.  
“Um...yeah, I guess it was.” He look back down at the floor and fidgeted with the sheet for a moment. He seemed to be weighing something in his mind and it looked as if there was something else he wanted to say, but nothing else came out and he just scooted onto the bed a bit more and turned to face Albus, “I’m just glad you’re okay little brother.” Harry moved next to James and put an arm around him, he whispered something in his ear and James smiled a tiny smile before returning the hug.

They all sat in silence for a while. No one seemed to know what to do next and for now, just being together made Albus feel like everything wasn’t so scary after all. He wasn’t sure what his life was going to be like now, but knowing that his family was with him was enough to keep him looking ahead.  
“Can we go home now?” He asked, finally breaking the silence in the room. Harry looked at him and then over at Ginny, who gave the barest hint of a smile, and at James, who nodded.  
“Yeah, let’s go home Dad. I don’t like this place.” Harry gave his son a quick hug and stood up, holding out his hand to James.  
“Yes, we’ll go home now.” Ginny stood up and Albus slowly pulled the sheet off of himself. They all tried not to look at the empty space where his right leg should have been. Letting out a long breath, he shifted over to the side of the bed and placed his foot on the floor. He grabbed the edge of the bed and stood up slowly, testing his balance. His whole body felt tilted to the right side as he stood up and nearly fell, but Ginny wrapped an arm around his shoulders to keep him steady.  
“Are you ready now?” She asked once he managed to stop wobbling.  
“Yeah, let’s go.” He grabbed her free hand and she held him tight, then, with a loud crack, they were gone, with Harry and James following close behind.


	4. Chapter 4

From the moment they returned home from St. Mungo’s Albus realized how much his life had changed, and he wasn’t really sure what to do about it. The only thing he knew for sure was that he didn’t want to be helpless child for the rest of his life.Those first couple of days were torture for him. He spent most of his time in his room, hiding from his parents. Deep down, he knew they were just trying to help, but everytime they tried to do something for him, it just made him feel like a baby. After a few days of crawling, hopping, and adamantly refusing to let anyone carry him, he decided he needed a better solution, and he knew exactly who he needed to help him. Early one morning, he dug out the cell phone his parents had gotten him to use while he was at muggle school, and for minor emergencies. A few of the numbers saved in the phone were friends from school and it occurred to him that he would need to come up with some sort of story to tell them about what happened. He filed that on a mental to do list for later and found the number he needed at the bottom of the list and dialed.   
“Hello, Albus.” Came the voice on the other end, sounding a bit surprised.  
“Aunt Hermione, I need your help.”   
“Of course, what do you need?”   
“I don’t know for sure, I just need to figure some things out. I need a better way to move around and no one seems to have any information about this other than Mad Eye Moody and his wooden leg.” Everything came out in a rush, he could feel frustrated tears prickling behind his eyes and he blinked them away as Hermione seem to consider his predicament.  
“I actually have a few ideas about that.” She said finally. “Why don’t I come over and we’ll figure this out together?”  
“Okay, when are you going to come?”   
“Right now. Get dressed, I’ll be there in a minute.” She hung up without another word, but almost as soon as he laid the phone down, it buzzed and a message from Hermione popped up on the screen, ‘Muggle clothes’. 

Less than five minutes later, there was a knock on his room door, and then Hermione entered carrying a long package in her hands.   
“What’s that?” he asked as she began to unwrap it.   
“I don’t see why your ridiculous Father didn’t think of this sooner.” She said as she pulled at the wrappings. “I can see why Ginny wouldn’t know about them, but he grew up around muggles, surely he’s seen crutches before, honestly!” She pulled the last of the plastic off and gestured for Albus to stand up. She held out a hand for him to hold on to for balance, and once he was standing, she held the crutches up next to him and began to adjust them to his height. The name sounded vaguely familiar to Albus, and after a moment, he remembered someone from school using them after hurting their ankle playing football.   
“Oh! I have seen these before, but where did you get them?”   
“Honestly Albus, they’re not hard to find, these should be the right height for you now. Go ahead and try them out.” He positioned them under his arms, grasped the hand grips, and slowly rested his full weight on them. After taking a few tentative steps, he felt a strange sense of relief and freedom, for the first time since losing his leg, he could go where he wanted to go without crawling on the floor, or being carried like a baby.   
“Aunt Hermione, why didn’t anyone at St. Mungo’s tell me about crutches?” She let out an exasperated sigh and a small laugh.  
“Because, wizards can be snobs sometimes, and they don’t think that muggles can come up with anything useful. Well, that and it’s so rare in a world of magic to have an injury that lasts long enough to need mobility aids. Broken bones are mended in a few minutes and even splinching and other types of injuries are healed so fast, it’s not necessary to be able to move around while it heals. Muggle’s have to find ways to keep a person from putting their weight on the injury while they wait for it to mend itself, so they invented wheelchairs and crutches and other devices.”  
“I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m feeling very grateful for muggle inventions right now. But, if this was your solution, why did I have to put on muggle clothes? Are we still going somewhere?”  
“This was actually only part of the solution, and yes, we are still going somewhere, so, let’s get going.” She gestured towards the open door and then followed him out. The stairs presented a bit of a challenge on their way out, but Albus refused any help from Hermione, determined to figure this out for himself. Up until now, he had scooted up and down them on his bottom, but now he had to find a way to do it with the crutches. After a few mishaps, he managed to work out how to get down the steps without tumbling down, and burst into the kitchen with a triumphant smile on his face. 

Ginny was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee and a copy of the Daily Prophet when Albus entered, she smiled and nearly started crying. It was the first time since he’d woken up in St. Mungo’s that she had looked truly happy, up until now, every smile she gave was tight and pained and it didn’t reach her eyes. She got up from her chair at the table and came over to wrap him in a hug.   
“So this was your brilliant solution?” She said to Hermione, who rolled her eyes.  
“Hardly, it’s not like I invented crutches, they’ve been around for thousands of years. I just went and bought them.” Ginny released Albus and moved to hug Hermione as well  
“Who cares if you invented them, I’m just glad to see him up and about, and hopeful.” She whispered the last word so that he wouldn’t hear. No one but Harry knew how worried she’d been about what would become of their son while he was secluding himself in his room, and refusing to speak to anyone. The two women released each other after a moment and Hermione put a hand on Albus’ shoulder.  
“We’re headed out to do a little research. Unfortunately, wizarding texts are silent on the subject of permanent injuries and I even tried to contact some of Mad Eye’s former colleagues, but as near as I can figure, the crazy man made that leg himself, so that doesn’t give us much to go on.” Ginny seemed thoroughly confused and it took her a minute to respond  
“So, what makes you think the muggle library will have any useful information?”   
“It’s like I told Albus earlier, permanent disabilities are too rare for wizards, they’re not so rare for muggles. We’re going to see what we can find on the subject of amputations and prosthetic limbs and maybe blend it with a little magic, and hopefully, we can come up with something more functional that a ridiculous wooden leg.”  
“Well, alright then, I guess it makes sense when you put it that way.” She turned to Albus “Do you want me to come with you? I’ll go and get James and Lily, and we can all go.”  
“No! Please don’t” He cut her off a bit more forcefully than he’d intended, and looked a bit sheepish. “Sorry, I just, I need to do this myself. James will just get bored, and Lily will just ask a million questions, and I’d rather just do this with Aunt Hermione.” Ginny wasn’t sure whether to laugh, cry, or scold when she saw the look on her son’s face. She saw defiance, and determination, and he even looked a bit apologetic, but not enough to back down.   
“Okay” She said finally. “Go do what you have to do, but don’t forget that it is okay to ask for help. No one expects you to do everything on your own.”   
“I know” he said, looking up at her. “And I’m sorry for shutting you out. I don’t really know why I did, I just didn’t want to be a burden” he looked down at the floor and his voice trailed off as he forced back the tears for what felt like the thousandth time. He felt his mother’s arms wrap around him and her voice was soft, but forceful when she whispered into his ear.  
“You are NOT a burden and you will never be a burden to any of us. We love you and we are a family, and no matter what happens, we take care of each other. Do you understand me?” His answer was nothing more than a small nod with his head pressed against his mother’s shirt, but it was enough. Ginny kissed the top of his head after a few moments embrace, and then released him and let out a long breath before sitting back down at the kitchen table.  
“Well, I guess you better get going.” She said finally. “I hope you find what you’re looking for.” Albus smiled   
“Yeah, me too.” He said, reaching out to her. She took his outstretched hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. They both let go at the same time and Albus turned and headed for the door, Hermione following close behind.

Once outside, Albus carefully navigated the steps of their front porch and then the slightly uneven sidewalk. Hermione walked beside him, matching his slow pace patiently.   
“We’re going to my house first thing, so we can use the floo network.” She said when they reached the end of the path in front of the Potter’s house. “It won’t take us directly to where we’re going, but I have a colleague from work who lives right near the underground station, so we won’t have to walk all the way there.”  
“Why couldn’t we just leave from our house?”   
“Oh, because Rose is going to come with us, she was just dragging herself out of bed when I left, so I told her we’d come back for her.” When they reached Ron and Hermione’s house, Albus had to figure out how to negotiate going up the three steps to the door, which turned out to require a lot more arm strength than going down.   
“I’m going to have arms of steel.” He remarked as they went inside. Hermione chuckled before calling up the stairs.  
“Come on Rose, I’m back! Let’s get moving.” A few seconds later, Rose appeared looking slightly disheveled, but eager as she thundered down the stairs.   
“Hey Al!” She bubbled “I’m glad Mum’s idea worked out, she told me all about it, but she wouldn’t let me open the package and look at the crutches. I wanted to see how they worked, but she said I could see them when you came over. And I’m so glad you’re up and about, we were a little worried that you were going to hibernate until Christmas, so even if you hadn’t called, Mum was going to go over there and drag you out” She spoke so quickly that Albus had trouble sorting out everything she was saying, she was always like this and he just nodded and smiled as usual. He was glad to know that Rose wasn’t going to dance around him and be awkward and uncomfortable like everyone else. He couldn’t help but laugh at her speech even though he felt a little guilty for shutting everyone out.   
“It’s good to see you Rose. And thank you, both of you. I’m glad to be up and about too.” Rose put an arm around his shoulders and he reached around and hugged her tightly. After a moment, Hermione gestured to the fireplace and they were on their way. 

The underground was only a short walk from the house they arrived in, but Albus could feel himself tiring very quickly and he was struggling by the time they reached the station entrance. He surveyed the steps leading down to the train and looked around desperately for the lift. Hermione seemed to be looking for one too, but a quick query to an attendant confirmed that this station did not have a lift yet.   
“It’s alright Aunt Hermione, I can manage.” He headed for the stairs and slowly went down, one step at a time. Rose stayed next to him to catch him if he stumbled, and Hermione followed close behind. Luckily, the train wasn’t too crowded, and they were able to find three seats next to each other. Albus collapsed onto the hard plastic chair, breathing hard.   
“I didn’t think I would get so tired that fast.” He said as Rose and Hermione sat on either side of him.   
“It’s going to take some time to get used to it that’s for sure.” Hermione said gently “And you haven’t been very active at all for several days.” He nodded, and thought to himself that he ought to find some fitness books while he was at the library, and he added that to his mental to do list, not bothering to mention it to Rose or Aunt Hermione.. He passed the rest of the train ride listening to Rose babbling, and imagining what their research might yield.


	5. Chapter 5

The library wasn’t very crowded when they arrived, and that was totally fine with Albus, he wasn’t really in the mood to deal with people staring at him. In the wizarding world, people stared at him because he was Harry Potter’s son, but now people in the muggle world were staring at him, for an entirely different reason, and he wasn’t really sure what to do about it. The old woman at the front desk of the library gave him a pitying look as soon as they walked in the door. Albus was pretty sure he heard her say something along the lines of, ‘Oh you poor dear’ and she might have said more, but Rose stopped and glared at her, placing herself between the front desk and her cousin. Albus was pretty sure his face had turned bright red with embarrassment, and he ducked his head down and followed Rose as fast as he could to avoid making eye contact with the woman. Hermione didn’t seem to notice this near silent exchange, and she wasted no time finding the section they needed. She had either done some preliminary research, or she could just sniff out what she needed like a bloodhound, because she found the relevant material in no time and she selected the books she wanted and then led them to a table in a back corner of the library. 

There were only three books, so they each took one, and started flipping through them in relative silence, only speaking when one of them came across something potentially useful. After skimming through one book, Albus closed it and set it down, looking slightly discouraged  
“Rose, let me look through yours.” She furrowed her brow in confusion, but she handed it over anyways. After searching through it for a few minutes, he closed it and handed it back to Rose.  
“Aunt Hermione” He said, his tone making it a question  
“What is it Al?” She asked, looking up from the pad of paper she’d been using to take notes.  
“Um, I was just noticing something…” He trailed off, not sure how to continue.  
“Yes? Go on.” Hermione prompted  
“Well, in all of these pictures, they don’t look like me...I mean, they all still have part of their leg left. I haven’t seen anything about someone who’s missing all of it like I am. Have you seen anything about that?” She looked at him for a moment, and then down at her notes.  
“No, Al, I haven’t.”  
“Maybe we should see what we can find out on the internet.” Rose said, and she didn’t even wait for a response before getting up and asking the woman at the desk where the computers were. She pointed her to a cart full of laptops and Rose wasted no time selecting one and setting it up on their table.

It didn’t take them long to find what they were looking for, and while Hermione and Rose were triumphant and excited, Albus wasn’t so sure about what he saw. They found videos, pictures, and diagrams of fake legs for people like Albus. His heart sank with each new picture, the contraptions he saw looked heavy, cumbersome, and uncomfortable. In the videos, he saw people walking with them and it was clear they couldn’t move very fast and limped heavily. Rose and Hermione didn’t seem to notice his dismay, and they continued sifting through the websites while speculating about possible magical improvements that could be made to the designs of the prosthetics. Finally, he couldn’t listen to them anymore.  
“I don’t want that” He said. They paused in surprise and confusion and stared at him.  
“Why not?” Rose asked “You could have a new leg and you’d be able to walk and I bet Mum can come up with some magical modifications to make it move better.”  
“Maybe she can, maybe she can’t. It might help a little, but it won’t change the fact that it would just a stick of metal hanging off my body.” They considered this for a long time and neither of them seemed to be able to come up with a response, but Hermione finally spoke up.  
“So, what do you want to do?” He didn’t say anything, he simply reached forward and clicked on a video that had caught his eye at the bottom of the computer screen. It was a football game, but it was unlike any football game any of them had ever seen or heard of. All the players on the field were missing a leg, and they were all using crutches to race back and forth on the field. He was mesmerized as he watched them swing up and back down to kick the ball. The crutches they were all using were nothing like the ones laying on the floor beside him. These were made of a slightly bent pole with a cuff that wrapped around the person's forearm with a grip to hold onto. It was so simple and yet, so brilliant.  
“I want those” he said, looking at each of them in turn.  
“Well, alright then.” Said Hermione, and without another word, she went back to the search engine and got to work. It was only a few minutes before she came up with multiple sites with information about the crutches they’d seen and they left the library a few minutes later with the addresses and phone numbers of the stores they found. 

As soon as he made it back home, Albus found his mother and told her all about everything they’d found. Hermione told her about the stores she’d found and gave her the phone numbers and other information.  
“Hermione, thank you so much.” Ginny said, hugging her. “And you too Rose, I don’t know if he would have ever come out of his room again if you hadn’t come over.” She glanced into the next room where Albus was sitting on the couch giving an enthusiastic description of the days events to Lily and James.  
“I don’t know about that, he did call me after all. That boy may be a clone of Harry, but he’s a lot like you. He’s determined, he knows what he wants and he does what needs to be done.” Ginny smiled  
“I guess you’re right” She said as she watched the scene in the living room. A sense of intense relief washed over her to see the three of them talking so easily and animatedly. They had been walking on eggshells for days and now their house was starting to feel like a home again.

Albus got his new crutches a few days later, and he immediately began working to get stronger and faster; it wasn’t long before he learned how to move very quickly, and go up and down the stairs with ease. He had even taken to kicking around a quaffle in the backyard like the football players he’d seen. One afternoon, he and James ended up playing a strange mix of Quidditch and Football as they threw and kicked the quaffle into a single quidditch hoop, with each of them taking turns being Keeper.  
“You’ve gotten so fast!” James exclaimed when Albus managed to save a particularly difficult shot. James Potter wasn’t the youngest Gryffindor Chaser for nothing.  
“Yeah, I figured I didn’t want to spend my first year at Hogwarts falling down all over the place or gasping for breath after one flight of stairs like I did the day we went to the library.”  
“I guess you’re right, and the stairs to Gryffindor Tower are probably the worst ones in the whole place. Except the Divination tower.”  
“Who says I’ll be in Gryffindor?” James paused and stared at Albus for a minute.  
“Why wouldn’t you be? The Potter’s and the Weasley’s have been in Gryffindor for generations.” Albus shrugged  
“I know, it’s just, you can’t know for sure until you get there.” without waiting for James to respond, Albus turned and headed back inside the house. He wasn’t sure why he’d even mentioned it, but he’d been thinking a lot about school once the initial shock of his injury had worn off. At first, his concerns about starting at Hogwarts were mostly related to his mobility, but now he was getting around without any real difficulty, and he was confident that he could handle the castle without too much trouble. His other fears were not at all related to his disability and he wasn’t sure that James would understand. James may look more like their mother, but he lived up to his namesakes, and anyone who knew him said he was following in his father’s footsteps. Albus, on the other hand, was a spitting image of his father, but it didn’t take anyone long to realize they were almost polar opposites, and as soon as he was old enough to understand his father’s legacy, he had been apprehensive about going to Hogwarts. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go, he just knew that he wasn’t like the great Harry Potter, and he was afraid of letting everyone down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody! I'm sorry for the delay on this chapter. I meant to post it a few days ago, I had it all written out and everything, but I looked back over it and ended up cutting out a good bit of it in the interest of moving the plot forward. The original version of this chapter was entirely Hermione, Rose, and Albus at the library doing research and it was longer than it is now with just that. It was basically me (Hermione) rambling on about prosthetics and mobility aids (FYI I know waaaay too much about this for someone who isn't an amputee) but, anyways, I decided that I didn't need all of that to tell the story, and I could just give a condensed version of the research and get on with the plot. 
> 
> All that being said, if you have any questions on the subject of disability or any related topic, please feel free to ask. Even though I'm not disabled myself, I have grown up around people with disabilities and it's something I'm very familiar with and I would love to be able to help educate you if you want to learn more. 
> 
> Okay, I'm done rambling...lol  
> Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you continue to enjoy the story!!


	6. Chapter 6

Their letters arrived from Hogwarts one morning in late July, while they were eating breakfast. James tore his open and glanced at his new booklist, and Albus opened his own letter with trembling fingers. He wasn’t sure why, but he had been almost afraid it wouldn’t come, and now that it was here, he was nervous for reasons he couldn’t explain even to himself. There was no need to read the words, he knew what they would say but when he unfolded the letter and surveyed the letter, there was something he did not expect. A small slip of paper slid out of the folded parchment and he caught it before it fell onto the floor, and read what was written there.  
‘Mr. Potter, you father sent me an owl last week to inform me of your situation as a result of your ordeal earlier this summer. I am writing to assure you that any help you need will be available to you. If there is anything you require, please do not hesitate to ask me or any other member of the staff. Sincerely, Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts.’  
Albus crumpled the note up in is hand and shoved it into his pocket, hoping no one had seen it. The thought of having a bunch of teachers hovering over him all year was enough to make him want to scream. He didn’t want anyone at Hogwarts to think that he couldn’t keep up, or that he needed a babysitter. Briefly, he considered writing back and saying ‘thanks but no thanks’ but he decided against it, and instead he promised himself that he would never go whining to a teacher, no matter what happened. 

Albus went back to his breakfast and listened as his family made plans to visit Diagon Alley.  
“We’ll meet up with Ron and Hermione since Rose will be starting this year too.” Ginny said, “Albus, let me see your list. I don’t think there are any new teachers this year, so it should be the same books they use every year, but I want to make sure.” He handed it to her and she read over it quickly.  
“Yep, all the usual suspects, and what about yours James? You’ve got new subjects this year.” She grabbed the list from James without waiting for him to hand it to her, glanced over it, and handed both lists back to them.  
“We’ll probably just go ahead and go tomorrow, I’ve got some things to finish up for work today, but tomorrow shouldn’t be a problem. What about you Harry?”  
“Tomorrow should be fine. I’ll mention it to Hermione too, so they can meet us th—“ his words were cut off by the phone ringing. Harry got up to answer it, his confusion matching that of his family. They used the phone so rarely, they often forgot it was even there, and there weren’t very many people who even had their number. 

Everyone watched as Harry listened to whoever was on the line. His puzzled expression slowly changed to surprise and then to amusement before he finally spoke.  
“Okay Dudley, stop for a minute and take a breath. There’s no reason for all this hysteria. Why don’t I come over and we’ll talk about it, and I can help explain things to your family a bit better.” He was silent for a moment, listening to Dudley’s response. “Oh, alright then we’ll all be there later this evening.” Harry let out a long sigh as he hung up the phone and sat back down at the table.  
“So, I’m assuming that was Dudley, as in your cousin Dudley?” Ginny asked. Harry only nodded and dropped his face into his hands, nearly shaking with surprise and amusement.  
“Dudley’s daughter Violet got a letter from Hogwarts today.”  
“Oh, well I don’t know if I should call it ‘poetic justice’ but that seems like the best term for it.” Ginny said with a mischievous smile.  
“That sounds about right, and we’re all invited to dinner, so this should be interesting. He wants someone to help him explain since he lived his entire life pretending magic didn’t exist, there’s a lot he doesn’t know.”  
“Wait, I thought they sent someone from the school to talk to all the muggle born students.” James said, confused.  
“I guess McGonagall didn’t think she needed to since she knows he’s my cousin.” Harry shrugged and looked at his watch. “Well, I need to get going, but I’ll see you all later this evening.” He got up and put his dishes in the sink before giving Ginny a quick kiss and then he dissapparated with a loud ‘pop’.

Later that night, when they arrived at the Dursley’s house, they were greeted by a very agitated Dudley.  
“Hi, I’m really glad you’re here.” The look in his eyes seemed rather frantic, and a bit exhausted  
“Bloody hell Dudley, you look like someone just died, calm down.”  
“I know, I know, I’m being ridiculous, but I’ve been trying to explain everything and Maria and Violet just keep asking more questions that I can only half answer.” he spoke very fast and it seemed for a moment that he was about to hyperventilate  
“Okay, just calm down.” Harry said again, putting a hand on his cousin’s shoulder. “Let’s sit down and talk about it.” Dudley nodded, then took a deep breath, let out a long sigh, and ushered the Potter’s into his home. As they entered the house, each of them passing by Dudley holding the door open, he seemed to notice Albus for the first time. His surprise was evident, and it occurred to Albus that the last time Dudley saw them was their annual Christmas visit, before he’d lost his leg. He stopped for a moment and stared up at Dudley, daring him to say something. Ginny came up behind Albus and put her hand on his shoulder,  
“We’ll explain later.” She spoke more to her son than to Dudley, but he nodded dumbly and continued on into the living room. Maria and Violet also gave Albus quizzical looks, but he simply ignored them and sat down as Harry began to speak.  
“So, what has Dudley told you so far?” He asked  
“Not a whole lot.” Maria answered “He just told us that magic exists, and that you went to a school to learn magic, and apparently Violet can use it too and she’s been accepted to this school. He also said that he spent some time with some wizards because of some war.”  
“Well, that’s basically the gist of it I suppose” Harry said, slightly amused at the thought of Dudley trying to explain all this. “I guess it would be best if I just start at the beginning. It’s a bit of a long story, but you’ll find out about most of it eventually, and I think it would be best to hear from us.” Maria seemed rather puzzled, and Dudley looked decidedly uncomfortable, but they both nodded for him to continue. 

Harry began by telling them about his parents and how he came to be raised by the Dursleys. He tried not to go into too much detail about Voldemort, not wanting to frighten them too much with the darkest aspects of the Wizarding World, and he glossed over much of the abuse he had suffered at the hands of Vernon and Petunia. Even though his cousin had changed quite a bit from the spoiled brat that Harry had known him to be, he could not be sure how much his wife and daughter knew about his upbringing. Of the War, he only said what was necessary, it wouldn’t ever be easy to talk about it and all the friends they had lost, and this wasn’t the time or the place to break down and cry. Once his tale was done, Ginny tactfully pulled the conversation away from the war buy extending an offer for them to join their family’s trip to Diagon Alley to buy their school supplies.  
“We’ll help you get all of Violet’s books and robes, and her wand of course.” she didn’t seem to notice Dudley flinch at the mention of the word ‘wand’ “You can also meet my brothers Ron and George, they own a joke shop there and Ron’s daughter will be starting Hogwarts this year too.” Maria agreed enthusiastically, but Dudley shifted uncomfortably at the mention of George. Harry couldn’t help but be amused, though he had seen George at Harry and Ginny’s wedding, it seemed that Dudley wouldn’t ever forget his first encounter with him.  
“Don’t worry Big D. Just don’t trust anything George gives you.” Dudley almost smiled at Harry’s use of his childhood nickname, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to actually be amused. Something else was bothering him. 

“Harry, I haven’t told my parents yet.” He said finally, His voice was strangled and Harry could see real fear in his eyes. It surprised him to see that Dudley was frightened of his parents, he had gotten the impression that Petunia and Vernon didn’t know their son was in contact with Harry, and a foolish part of him had hoped that maybe they had relaxed their views on magic.  
“Are you going to?” He asked, and Dudley seemed to consider that for a moment.  
“I don’t know, maybe I won’t. I hadn’t really thought about.”  
“Do you think that would even be possible?” Maria chimed in. “They’ve already gotten her in at that fussy private school Petunia went to, St. Agnes or some nonsense like that. How on earth would we tell them she’s not going without telling them she’s going to Hogwarts?”  
“I don’t think we can.” Dudley said, Maria reached over and took her husband’s hand. He didn’t realize until then that he was shaking.  
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” Dudley only nodded in response, looking a bit more calm, but clearly still nervous. After a brief moment of uncomfortable silence, Ginny changed the subject by asking Violet if she would like to hear more about Hogwarts. When she agreed enthusiastically, they spent the rest of the night telling her everything she wanted to know about her new school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, Dudley has a magical child! JK Rowling can FIGHT ME!!!  
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'm sorry it took so long, I had to steer myself away from writing my 'clown club' Braime fic.
> 
> Also, I changed my name, yay! I just felt like this LadyKightEllen made more sense for this. I also made a Twitter account with the same name and I’m going to be using that to toss my ideas out into the universe before I actually try and write them for real.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been forever, but I can explain!
> 
> ....actually, I can't, *nervous laugh* 
> 
> I'm really sorry it took so long for this chapter, hopefully y'all are still interested. I had to force myself to stop composing a new fic and get back to work on this. 
> 
> So, anyways, here's the next chapter and I hope you enjoy it!

The Leaky Cauldron wasn't very crowded when they arrived, but they still managed to cause quite a stir among the few patrons. Even though it had been years since the war, Harry, Ginny, and Hermione still managed to turn heads wherever they went in the wizarding world. Thankfully, no one tried to approach them and they were able to get through to the entrance to Diagon Alley without lingering too long in the pub. Albus tried to convince himself that he didn't hear them whispering about him as he passed by them. He kept his eyes straight ahead and ignored them, but he could see Rose and Lily out of the corners of his eyes, glaring at them, and James seemed to move closer to him.  
“Just ignore them, it's not worth it. They're going to stare at me no matter what.”  
“Exactly” Rose said “We're going to stare right back at them.”  
“Why? It's not going to make a difference.”  
“It makes us feel better Al.” James said. Albus rolled his eyes and followed his parents out the back door of the Leaky Cauldron. Ginny tapped the bricks to open the archway, Violet and Maria look awed, and Dudley looked a little green as they all they stepped through to the street. 

“Alright, we have to go to Gringotts first so you can exchange your Muggle money.” Hermione said, pointing to the white stone building in the distance. “I can show you how to do that. I’ve done it many times, and you have to be on your toes with the goblins. The exchange rate is tricky sometimes and they’re not above taking advantage of first timers.”  
“I’m sorry, did you say Goblins?” Maria asked, looking a little disconcerted.  
“Oh, yes, they run the wizard’s bank and they are very good at what they do. They’re just not very friendly. And it’s not just with muggles, they don’t really like anyone who’s not a goblin.”  
“Well, alright then.” Maria said “Let’s go see the goblins and get some wizard money.”  
“Hey dad, can I go ahead and go to the shop?” James asked eagerly. “I want to see if there’s any new products since the last time.” Harry deliberated for a moment  
“Okay, but you all need to go together, I don’t want any of you wandering off on your own. We’ll pass it on our way to the bank anyways.” 

Weasly’s Wizard Wheezes was crowded with children and teens as it always was, and it took them a while to find George and Ron. They waded through the crowd, ignoring the whispers and stares. Violet kept gasping at every little thing. This was the first time she had ever been in the presence of so much concentrated magic, and she didn’t quite know what to do with herself. Lily grabbed her hand and kept up a constant stream of commentary on everything they passed by. They finally found George and Ron in the back of the crowded store, demonstrating some new products to a crowd of enraptured onlookers.  
“Well, look who it is!” George said after all the watching kids had dispersed. “Ron, I think those strays have wandered into our shop again!”  
“I think you’re right George, we just can’t seem to shake them off. That one with the curly hair and freckles followed me home once or twice!” Rose laughed and rolled her eyes as Ron ruffled her hair.  
“Quite right little brother, I have a couple of them myself that follow me around begging for money, or a new broomstick. Absolute nonsense.”  
“Daddy! Uncle George, stop it!” Rose said through a fit of giggles.  
“Alright, alright, but who is this?” he asked Rose, noticing Violet for the first time “George, is there a new cousin I didn’t know about? Because this one definitely isn’t mine!”  
“I don’t know Ron, she’s not mine either, not unless Angelina adopted one without telling me” Violet didn’t seem to know how to respond to these two strangely dressed men with fiery red hair and outlandishly colored robes. She started to stammer out an introduction, but failed.  
“Uncle George, this is Violet Dursley.” Albus said “She’s kind of our cousin.” George’s face lit up at the mention of Violet’s surname.  
“Dursley, You don’t say? So, you’re Dudley’s girl then.” Violet nodded, eyes wide. “A magical Dursley, will wonders never cease.”  
“I know, Dad seemed to think it was pretty funny too, but he wouldn’t tell us why” James said, looking hopeful and mischievous.  
“Oh really, well, Ron and I could tell you some stories, but I think your Mother might actually murder me.” George whispered conspiratorially to James, “I’ve been on the receiving end of her hexes before and I don’t wish to repeat that experience.”  
“Alright, fine” James huffed.  
Harry and Ginny arrived with Dudley and Maria a short while later to collect everyone. Hermione was already at Flourish and Blotts, picking out some books for some ‘personal reading’ as she put it.  
“Well, I guess we’d better go and find your mother before she buries herself in books again.” Ron said to Rose “Don’t let anyone burn the shop down again, while I’m gone George.”  
“How dare you Ron! That was only one time, and it wasn’t my fault.” Ron didn’t bother to respond, instead he simply shook his head and laughed as he headed out of the shop. 

They found Hermione in the very back of Flourish and Blotts and she already had quite a collection of books gathered.  
“There you are!” Ron said surveying the stack “Did you get any of Rose’s school books at all?”  
“Very funny Ron, there is only one book in that stack for me. They’re books for all of the kids and I got a copy of Hogwarts: A History for the Dursleys so they can get a little bit of insight.” She began to distribute the books to each of the kids; for a brief moment, Albus wasn’t sure how he was going to carry all the books, but Hermione had already thought of that. When she got to Albus, she handed him a bag with his books already in it. He didn’t say anything, but have his aunt a grateful smile, and slung the bag over his shoulder. 

They went to get potion ingredients next, and then Madame Malkin’s to get their robes, and once everyone was fitted, they all headed for Ollivanders to get their wands. James, who was thoroughly bored by this point, tried to escape into Quality Quidditch Supplies, but Ginny caught him.  
“Oh come on Mum! I already have a wand, so why do I have to hang around and be bored while they wave every wand in the shop?”  
“I don’t want you going off by yourself, that’s why. There’s no telling what you would get into.” James sulked most of the way to the shop, but he seemed to forget what he’d said about boredom when they actually got there. There was something fascinating about all the long slender boxes stacked up on the shelves from floor to ceiling, and James watched the wand choosing process with just as much interest as everyone else.  
Violet went first, ignoring her father’s slight cringing being surrounded by so many magic wands. He wasn’t quite as skittish as he had been, but he’d been on the receiving end of a wand more than once, he wasn’t going to forget it in a hurry. To her delight and her Father's dismay, she found her wand after trying only three others.  
Rose was next and she stepped forward eagerly. She too, only had to try out a few wands before one had chosen her. As soon as her wand was paid for, she wanted to try and practice some spells, but Ron made her put it away.  
Albus stepped forward cautiously when it was his turn, he wasn't quite sure why he was so apprehensive about getting his wand, but he couldn't stop his heart from racing as he was measured. He tried wand after wand until there was a pile of slender boxes stacked up on the counter. He tried not to let his frustration show, but we with every failed attempt, he felt like someone was whispering in his ear, telling him that he wasn't good enough to be a wizard. Finally, after what felt like the millionth try, he found his wand, and even though he was relieved, he still couldn't shake that little whisper. 

Albus didn't say much for the rest of the shopping trip, but no one seemed to notice, because they were all so focused on teaching the Dursley’s all about the wizarding world. When they got home, he went straight to his room and dumped his new books and robes in his waiting trunk and then flopped down on his bed. He wasn’t sure how long he laid there, staring up at the ceiling before someone knocked on his door.  
“Al, may I come in?” Harry asked, opening the door a few inches to poke his head in.  
“Yeah, sure. I guess” he replied, still staring at the ceiling.  
“Talk to me.” Harry said sitting down at the foot of the bed, “Tell me what’s bothering you”  
“Nothing’s bothering me.”  
“You and I both know that’s a lie, now sit up and tell me what’s wrong.” He kept his voice was gentle, but Albus knew he wasn’t going to let him off the hook. He let out a long sigh and sat up next to his father, and tried to think of the best way to explain what was bothering him.  
“The wand chooses the wizard right dad?” He said finally, Harry looked thoroughly confused, whatever he had expected Albus to say, that wasn’t even close.  
“Um, yes, that’s right. What about it?”  
“It took forever for a wand to choose me, but Violet and Rose were chosen after only a few tries.” He hesitated for a minute, glancing up Harry, who still seemed to be a bit confused. “Maybe the great Harry Potter doesn’t understand, and I know it’s probably stupid to be upset about that, but it felt like I wasn’t good enough or like I wasn’t —”  
“Wait a minute Al” Harry said, cutting him off, “I never told you about getting my first wand did I?” Albus shrugged, but said nothing.  
“It felt like I tried a thousand wands before it one finally chose me, I thought I would never find one and that pile of boxes just kept getting bigger and bigger. It doesn’t matter how many wands you try, you’ll be chosen by the one that’s right for you.”  
“Yeah, but you had this ‘great destiny’ and you had to have the twin to Voldemort’s wand and all that. What do I have? I’m not you, and I’m not destined to defeat the forces of darkness or whatever, I’m just Harry Potter’s crippled son.”  
“Al, stop, and listen to me please.” Albus looked up, there were angry tears welling in his eyes, and Harry wiped them away before he spoke. “You might not have ‘a great destiny’ like I did, but you have no idea how happy I am that you don’t. My entire childhood was spent living in fear, and I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy. Your destiny is whatever you want it to be. People will try to compare you to me, they might say insensitive things, or underestimate your ability, but you’re the only person who gets to decide who you are and what you’re capable of.” He scooted a bit closer to Harry, who put an arm around him and pulled him close. 

Neither of them spoke for a while, and Harry was perfectly content to stay there as long as his son needed him. It occurred to him that Albus had been worrying about this long before they went wand shopping. Ever since he was little, it was pretty obvious Al was nothing like him or James, but it never seemed necessary to say anything about it. Even now, he wasn't quite sure what else to say.  
“Dad, what if I'm in Slytherin?” Albus asked, once again wearing that intense, solemn expression.  
“Then you'll be in Slytherin, and they will have gained an amazing student.”  
“You won't be mad if I'm not in Gryffindor?”  
“Of course not, and if I'm being perfectly honest, I'm already pretty sure you're not a Gryffindor.”  
“You are?” Harry couldn't help but laugh at the incredulous expression he wore.  
“You're not nearly reckless enough.” Now it was Albus’ turn to laugh.  
“I guess I never really thought about it that way, I was just afraid that I would let you down.”  
“You could never let me down. I love you, and no matter what happens, I will always be proud that you’re my son. Do you understand me?” Albus nodded, serious again, but not as tense as he had been. He leaned his head on Harry’s shoulder and he held him close, knowing now that he didn’t need to say anything more.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't plan it like this at all, but I guess I gave y'all a present for my birthday lol. I hope you enjoy and thank you to all of you that are still reading and commenting even though I take forever to update!

Platform 9 ¾ was just as crowded as it always was on the first day of term. The Potter’s and the Weasley’s emerged from the barrier just behind Dudley and his family after they had been coached along by Albus and James. Dudley stared wide eyed at the Hogwarts Express.   
“So this is the train you were always going on about.”  
“Yep, that’s the one, and I’m honestly surprised you even remember anything I said when we were kids.”  
“I was listening, sometimes.” Dudley said sheepishly “I was a little jealous if I’m being honest.” Harry wasn’t really sure what to say to that, but before he had to come up with something, James rushed past them.  
“Bye Dad! Bye Mum!” He shouted as he ran to greet a group of rowdy looking boys that were getting on the train.  
“He’s not much for teary goodbyes is he?” Dudley asked with a little laugh.   
“No, but he’ll be back when he realizes that he forgot his Hogsmeade permission slip.” Before Dudley could ask what Hogsmeade was, Violet threw her arms around him, then her mother, telling them goodbye.  
“I love you!” She shouted back as Rose grabbed her hand and the two of them raced towards the train. 

Albus hung back with his parents and Lily, partly because he was steeling himself to deal with the staring and whispering that was sure to follow him as he made his way through the crowd. He was also trying to figure out how he was going to get his trunk onto the train without having one of his parents do it for him. His answer came in the form of a tall lanky young man with mischeivous eyes and bright turquoise hair.   
“Teddy!” Lily exclaimed, throwing her arms around his waist. He returned the hug, lifting her off the ground and swinging her around playfully. When she was back on the ground, he pulled Albus into an enthusiastic embrace.   
“It’s good to see you little bro” His voice was soft, almost strained, and without its usual cheery playfulness for just a moment, but when they let go of each other he was back to his normal self.   
“Hey Teddy…” He trailed off, still not wanting to ask for help.  
“Yeah, what’s up?”   
“Could you um...could you help me with my trunk? I can’t get it myself and I don’t want to…” He looked over to where Harry was standing and Teddy seemed to understand.  
“Ah, I see, say no more!” He grabbed the trolley and headed for the train.   
Rose and Violet had already found a compartment nearly at the end of the train, and they waved for Albus to come and join them. Teddy loaded the trunk on the storage shelf and after being introduced to Violet, he left in a hurry.  
“I’m off the find Victoire” He called over his shoulder, “I can’t let her go without saying goodbye, she’ll miss me too much.” Rose and Albus tried desperately to hold in their laughter.  
“They’ve been dancing around each other for years!” Rose explained to Violet through a fit of giggles. “I guess they’re finally going to admit that they’re together.”   
“Took them long enough” Albus agreed.

Once Teddy was gone, the three of them got off the train to give their parents a proper goodbye. Albus gave his mother a big hug and pretended not to notice the tears in her eyes. He gave his dad a hug too, and when they let go of each other, he put a hand on Albus’ shoulder and bent down to look him in the eyes.  
“Remember what we talked about okay?” He said, and Albus nodded.  
“I make my own destiny, and no one can tell me who I am or what I’m capable of.” Harry smiled and nodded  
“And, we love you no matter what.” Ginny added, planting a kiss on the top of his head. “Have a good term, and write to us as soon as you get settled in.”  
“I will Mum.” He turned towards the train and hesitated for a moment.  
“Go on, you’ll be fine.” Ginny said, giving him one last kiss, “And if you see your brother, tell him to come and say goodbye to us, and that he forgot his permission slip for Hogsmede.” He nodded and headed for the train, glancing back once more before finally boarding. As soon as he got on, James jumped out of another door and raced back to where their parents were standing, while his friends leaned out of the windows, laughing and joking loudly. Albus rolled his eyes at their antics and headed for the compartment where Rose and Violet were waiting for him. 

The train was now full of people and he could feel their eyes following him through glass windows on each compartment he passed, no doubt they were whispering their questions and speculations about him as well. One compartment had the door wide open and it was impossible to avoid hearing what they were saying.   
“Oh my gosh! What happened to his leg?” Once girl asked, the horror evident in her voice  
“I don’t know” said another, “but isn’t that Harry Potter’s son?” Albus gave up trying to ignore them and turned quickly to face the open door.   
“Yes, and Harry Potter’s son is not deaf.” They stared in shocked silence “He also has a name, it’s Albus, and as for what happened to me, it’s a long and thrilling story, but you know what? It’s none of your business, so you can just keep wondering, or you can make something up. I don’t really care one way or the other.” He finished with a nonchalant shrug, and before the girls could formulate some kind of response, he turned and continued on to the compartment where Rose and Violet were now poking their heads out to look for him.   
“What took you so long?” Rose asked as he sat down, let out an exasperated sigh, and tossed his crutches into the corner.  
“Oh, nothing, just telling people to mind their own business.” Rose narrowed her eyes at him and planted her hands on her hips.  
“I thought you said it was better to ignore them.”   
“Yeah, well, I got tired of that.” Rose looked like she might say more, but after a brief staring war, she let the matter drop and sat down next to him. 

Just as the train was about to leave, there was a timid knock on the partially open door of their compartment. The boy was small and pale with a pointed face and hair so blond it was almost white. He stood awkwardly, staring at the floor and fidgeting, as if he regretted knocking and was deciding whether he should run away. After a moment of silence, he mumbled what sounded like an apology, then he took a deep breath and finally looked up.   
“Is it...um...is it alright if I sit here? All the other compartments are...uh...they’re full.” Violet scooted over almost immediately, completely oblivious to the silent conversation Albus and Rose were having.   
“I’m Violet Dursley” She said as he dragged his trunk inside and sat down. “What’s your name?”  
“Scorpious Malfoy” His voice was still a timid whisper and his eyes were back on the floor.   
“Oh! That’s an interesting name.” She turned towards Rose and Albus, and started to introduce them, but hesitated, confused by the way they were looking at each other; slightly annoyed and even a bit angry. “What’s the matter with you two? Aren’t you going to say hello? You’re being kind of rude.”  
“Yeah, sorry” Albus said as he and Rose seemed to awake from a trance, “I’m Albus and this is my cousin Rose.” He extended his hand and Scorpious shook it apprehensively, glancing up through his nearly invisible eyelashes. Rose did the same, looking slightly ashamed of herself for reacting that way. Violet still seemed a bit confused by the way her cousins reacted to Scorpious, but they quickly struck up a conversation. He was just as fascinated by meeting a Muggle born as she was at meeting a Pure blood with little to no contact with the Muggle world. Her initial awkwardness forgotten, Rose joined in as well, finding their fascination with each other rather amusing. Albus observed their conversation for a while, interjecting a comment now and then, but mostly he found himself just staring at Scorpious. He wasn’t quite sure why, but he desperately hoped no one noticed or commented on it.

After a while, Rose saw their cousin Roxanne pass by the door.  
“Violet, we have to go tell her about Victoire and Teddy!” She exclaimed “Come on! Let’s go after her.” Violet rolled her eyes and giggled as Rose pulled her out the door of the compartment. They came back a few minutes later. Rose was smiling and laughing still, but for some reason, Violet’s face was a mask of confusion.   
“Scorpious, I thought you said that everywhere else was full. I just saw a bunch of compartments with only a couple of people in them. It looked like there was plenty of room.” Scorpious bit his lip and fidgeted, glancing at each of them in turn.  
“I um...no one else would let me sit with them.” The silence that followed seemed to last forever. Rose looked slightly embarrassed, and Albus looked almost angry. Violet looked as if her brain had stopped working, her hand frozen in midair and her mouth open in a shocked ‘O’.  
“Why wouldn’t they let you?” She asked “That’s so mean.” He voice wavered as if she was about to cry. Scorpious looked between the three of them, his gaze lingering on Albus, then Rose, both of him nodded as if to say ‘tell her’ and then finally, he turned to Violet.  
“I guess I might as well tell you everything now, you’ll find out eventually anyways. I don’t know how much you know about the War, so I’ll just come right out and say it, my Dad was a Death Eater, one of Voldemort’s loyal followers. He was trying to take over the world, real original I know, but Albus’ dad defeated Voldemort, saved everyone, and became a hero. My dad, confessed his crimes, spent a few years in Azkaban, the wizard prison, and when he was released, he went to work for the Ministry of Magic to help them search out Dark Magic left by Voldemort and his followers.” He seemed to grow bolder with each word and when his speech was finished, there was a look of relief on his face. Violet stared at him for a long moment, her brows furrowed.  
“Well, I don’t really know what half of that even means, so I don’t really care who your dad is, or was.” She said with a shrug. Rose and Albus nodded their agreement.

They were all silent for a moment, and Scorpious surveyed his three new friends with a grateful smile. His gaze lingered on Albus last and he returned the smile. Whatever they might have said next was forgotten when the old witch with the trolley came by and they all scrambled for their money and loaded up on sweets.  
“Oh Violet! Try the chocolate frogs.” Albus exclaimed handing her one “The’re my favorite, some people collect the cards, but I just like the chocolate.” She opened the package and pulled the card out, looking thoroughly confused, when she showed it to them, Rose and Albus rolled their eyes and Scorpious tried to suppress a laugh.   
“And that’s why I don’t collect the cards.” Albus said with an overly dramatic sigh as his father stared back at him from the tiny card.  
“Oh look, Here’s my Mom!” Rose exclaimed with mock excitement.   
“Hey, I got Merlin!” Scorpious said with a laugh   
“Finally!” Albus said, throwing his hands in the air “I was beginning to wonder if the of the old ones were even still circulating.” They made a game of the rest of them, trying to see if they could find anymore cards without one of their relatives on it. Soon, the frogs were all gone, and Violet turned out to be quite fearless when they showed her the Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans, trying several without hesitation.   
“I can’t believe you tried that weird brown one!” Scorpious exclaimed, sound impressed and horrified.  
“It was coffee” Violet said with shrug  
“Yeah, but it could have been dog food or something.” Rose said, wrinkling her nose. Violet just shrugged again, laughing as she selected another sweet from their dwindling pile. They finished up the rest of the candy as the sky grew dark outside the train and they changed into their robes when the prefects came around telling them they would be arriving soon.   
“Are you guys ready?” Rose asked excitedly when the train finally came to a stop. Violet nodded enthusiastically.  
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Albus said, grabbing his crutches off the floor and standing up.   
Scorpious hesitated, then shrugged.  
“I guess” he said.   
“Everything is going to be just fine!” Violet said grabbing his hand and pulling him to his feet.  
“Yeah, and if anyone bothers you, we’ll hex them” Rose assured him. Albus was fairly sure she was joking, but the look on her face suggested otherwise.  
“Come on Scorpious.” He said “Stick with us, and we’ll get through this together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in case anyone was wondering what took so long, I've had a bit of this written down already, but I was having trouble introducing Scorpious, I didn't want the train scene to look exactly like Harry, Ron, and Hermione's so I was struggling with it for a while, trying to make it believable without it being a carbon copy. Idk if I succeeded or not, whatever. 
> 
> P.S. Who caught that first little hint of Scorbus?? *wink wink*


	9. Chapter 9

“Firs’ years! Firs’ years! Firs’ years over ‘ere!” Hagrid’s voice carried easily over the crowd and Albus and Rose went towards him immediately with Violet and Scorpious following them closely.  
“Hello there Albus!” Hagrid nearly shouted as they approached. Before Albus could respond, he was lifted in a bone crushing hug. Hagrid was saying something, but he could only make out a few words over the noise of the train and the students milling around.  
“...Father... letter...so worried…”   
“I’m fine Hagrid, really, I am I promise.” Albus assured him, nearly gasping for breath when Hagrid finally released him and set him down.   
“Right, of course you are.” He said fondly, and then he seemed to notice the other three standing there. “Oh ‘ello Rose, it’s good to see you! And let’s see, you must be young Malfoy.”  
“Y-yes sir.” Scorpious stammered, gazing at Hagrid in awe.  
“And what about you young lady? There’s something familiar about you, but I’m sure I’ve never seen you before.”  
“I’m Violet, Violet Dursley.” She said, eyes wide as she craned her neck to look up at him.  
“Dursley? You don’t mean Dudley Dursley is you father?”  
“Yes sir, he is. How do you know him?”  
“Oh well, I’ve known Harry since he was a baby, so I crossed paths with your father once or twice.” There was a twinkle in his eye as if the memory amused him, but he didn’t elaborate and Violet just shrugged and didn’t bother to question it. 

Anything else they might have said was cut short as the other first years began to gather and Hagrid directed them to get in groups of four to get in the boats. It took Albus a few minutes to figure out how to get in the boat, and he almost fell over, but Rose and Scorpious caught him before he ended up in the lake. Violet noticed a group in a nearby boat watching the whole scene and her temper got the best of her when they smirked and laughed at Albus.  
“Hey!” She yelled, “Why don’t you just shut it, and mind your own business!” They didn’t respond to her shouts, and simply turned away, but it seemed as though they were still laughing.   
“Just let it go Violet.” Albus said from his seat  
“Make up your mind Al, do you want us to ignore people being rude, or do you want us to say something?” She asked, throwing up her hands in exasperation as she sat down. He didn’t answer her, he only shrugged, crossed his arms over his chest and shrank down as if he was trying to make himself invisible. When they arrived at the castle, Albus heard more whispers and what sounded like muffled laughter as he had to let Scorpious and Rose help him get out of the boat. Once they made it inside and they all gathered in the entry hall, Violet, Scorpious, and Rose shifted to stand around Albus, blocking him from the other students.  
“You don’t have to do that” He said, sounding slightly annoyed and very embarrassed “It’s not like you can hide me the whole term.”   
“I know, but they are actually making fun of you, not just staring and whispering.” Rose said defiantly.  
“Trying to hide me isn’t going to stop them from laughing at me. I can handle a few idiots.”  
“Alright, fine.” Rose said, stepping back from him just a bit. “But they better not keep this up all year.”   
“We can only hope.” Albus said dryly. 

After a few minutes, they all fell silent when a rather handsome man entered the room, drawing excited titters from a group of blushing girls. Albus and Rose both rolled their eyes and gave Neville a small wave. He acknowledged them with a small nod and then addressed the waiting students.  
“Welcome to Hogwarts everyone, I am Professor Longbottom, I teach Herbology, and I am the Head of Gryffindor House. I will be taking you in for the Sorting Ceremony in just a few moments, but before I do I would like to pass on a message from the Headmistress. She wanted me to make sure that our first years students feel welcome and that you know you can always come to any member of the staff if you need help or guidance for any reason.” Albus had a nagging suspicion that this ‘message’ was a new addition to Neville’s introduction. As he followed Neville and the others down the corridor to the Great Hall, he tried desperately to convince himself that the Headmistress’ message was simply a general offer of assistance to new students, even though his gut told him otherwise. 

The Great Hall was full of chatter that slowly died down as the group of first years followed Neville to the front of the room. Albus didn’t really pay attention to the Sorting Hat until it was Violet’s turn to be sorted.  
“Gryffindor!” The hat shouted only a few moments after it fell down over her eyes. The Gryffindor table erupted in cheers as Neville lifted the hat off Violet’s head and she skipped down the stairs. Scorpious climbed the stairs when his turn came as if he was he was headed to his execution. The hat only took a moment to decide.  
“Slytherin!” It shouted. The Slytherin table cheered for him, and he smiled just a little bit, but when he caught sight of Albus, the smile was gone and he gave a resigned shrug. He didn’t have much time to contemplate Scorpious’ reaction, because he was called up next. As Albus stepped forward, he noticed a look pass between McGonagall and Neville, and after a few seconds, he started to come down the steps towards Albus with the hat. Albus felt his face burn with humiliation and anger, and he continued resolutely up the steps, ignoring Neville as they passed each other. He sat down on the stool and waited for Neville to collect himself and come back up the steps. Albus ignored the looks and whispers, and his growing frustration with the Headmistress as the hat was placed on his head and it began to whisper in his mind.   
“Well well well, this one’s a Potter but he’s not like the others. Good mind, very ambitious, brave but not reckless, and you want to prove yourself oh yes you do! I think I know just where to put you, unless you have an objection? Your Father did.”   
The voice stopped whispering, and Albus could sense the question as if the hat was actually waiting for a response.  
“No, I don’t have an objection. You can put me wherever you think I should be.”   
Wise boy, it said before shouting out loud.  
“Slytherin!”   
The Hall, which had been mostly silent already, suddenly felt as if all the air had been sucked out of it. The silence was so complete as Albus stood up, that he could actually hear the slight tapping sound that his crutches made every time he stepped forward. He briefly glanced over at the Gryffindor table to find James, who was staring with his mouth hanging open. When their eyes met, Albus gave him a small smile and headed for the Slytherin table where Scorpious was beaming and almost bouncing with excitement.

Rose was the last student to be sorted and she was, predictably sorted into Gryffindor, where she was engulfed in the large group of Weasley cousins. At the Slytherin table, Albus prepared himself to answer several awkward questions. At first, no one seemed bold enough to just come right out an ask ‘what happened to your leg?’ but about halfway through dinner, a first year boy named Daniel finally worked up his nerve.  
“So um, Albus...I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but um…what happened to you?” For a brief moment, Albus thought about feigning ignorance just to make them all sweat, but he decided against it, Daniel wasn’t trying to be mean, he was just curious.   
“It’s okay, you’re not being rude.” Everyone in the vicinity had turned their curious gazes on him as soon as Daniel asked his question and now they were all waiting expectantly. Scorpious looked like he might be about to tell them all to mind their own business, but Albus shook his head slightly, deciding it would be best to just get it over with.   
“It was a curse” He said finally, glancing around at all of them before continuing. “James and I were exploring an old house and something grabbed me, the healers couldn’t figure out how to stop it, so…” He trailed off, not wanting to get into the specifics. He wasn’t even sure of the exact sequence of events since he had been unconscious for most of it.  
“Whoa! That’s crazy.” Daniel exclaimed. Albus wasn’t sure if ‘crazy’ was the right word to describe his ordeal, but he supposed there were worse ways he could have reacted. 

After that, the mood at the table was much less tense and everyone seemed to feel less awkward. They moved on to other topics of discussion, and no one seemed to feel the need to ask Albus anymore questions. When dinner was over, the older students hurried off while two of the prefects rounded up all the first year students to show them where to go.  
“Alright first years, come with us. I’m Timothy, and this is Miri.” He said in a rather self important tone. “We’ll take you to the dormitories and give you a bit of a tour on the way there. If you have any questions we can absolutely answer them for you.” Albus thought Timothy reminded him of his fussy uncle Percy, and nearly burst out laughing at the thought. He hid his fit of mirth under the table as he bent down to get his crutches off the floor, mentally reminding himself to tell Rose about it later. They followed the prefects down several flights of stairs, and Albus could see Miri watching him with a concerned look on her face almost the whole time.   
“I think I’ve been given a babysitter.” He muttered so that only Scorpious would hear him.  
“What do you mean?” He asked, and Albus glanced pointedly at Miri, who didn’t seem to notice that they were talking about her.   
“She’s been watching me since we left the Great Hall.”  
“Maybe she’s just curious or something.”   
“Possibly, but judging by the letter I got from McGonagall, I’m pretty sure she’s been told to ‘keep an eye on me’ or something like that.” Scorpious gave him a quizzical look and Albus explained about the additional note that came with his letter. “Maybe if I ignore her, she’ll go away.”

The Slytherin common room was rather dim, and decorated with green and silver drapes. Albus found it oddly calming compared to the bright boisterous red and gold that his predominantly Gryffindor relatives preferred.   
“I kind of like it.” He said softly to Scorpious as they followed Timothy to the first year’s dormitory  
“It looks a lot like my house to be honest.” he replied and Albus started to laugh, until he noticed that his new friend looked rather dejected. Albus stopped abruptly in the middle of the corridor.  
“Are you upset that you’re in Slytherin?” He asked. Scorpious let out a long sigh, glancing at the retreating backs of their classmates. He gave a small shrug.  
“I don’t really know, I guess I didn’t really care all that much, but I think...I think my father wanted me to be in a different house.”   
“Really? Did he tell you that?”  
“No, not exactly, I just know he was worried about how people were going to treat me. He knew that they would be afraid that I was going to be just like him. After what happened on the train, I guess he was right about that. I think he was hoping that if I was in a different house, it might help me a little bit.” Albus let out a sharp laugh that startled Scorpious. “What’s so funny?”  
“Sorry, I’m not laughing at you, this whole situation is just kind of amusing. People are scared that you will be just like you father, but they don’t realize that your father is not the person they think he is, but for me, people are disappointed when they figure out that I’m nothing like my father.”   
“We’re such a mess” Scorpious said, rolling his eyes, earning another fit of giggles from Albus as they caught up with the rest of the first year boys.

Timothy passed them on his way back down the corridor and he regarded them quizzically before apparently deciding that he couldn’t be bothered to ask what was so funny. Once they were in the room, Albus couldn’t help but notice that his trunk had been placed next to the bed closest to the door, while the others were lined up in the middle of the room.   
“Well, I guess you guys get to pick which bed you want.” He tried, and failed to keep the bitterness out of his voice. The levity was gone as the events of the day came rushing back. He threw himself on the bed and lay there staring up at the ceiling while the rest of the boys dragged their trunks to a bed. Scorpius immediately chose the bed next to Albus, then sat down awkwardly.   
“Do you want to talk about it?” He asked hesitantly.  
“Not really.” Albus said, glancing pointedly at their other roommates who were unpacking their trunks and trying to pretend like they weren’t eavesdropping. Scorpious sat for awhile, not sure what else to say, but still waiting to see if Albus would change his mind.   
“I’m fine, I’m just annoyed.” Albus sat up and scooted to the end of his bed as he spoke and rummaged around in his trunk to find his pyjamas.  
“Are you going to try and do something about it? Or just ignore it?” Scorpious asked, pulling out his own pyjamas.  
“I don’t know, I think I’m just going to keep my head down and try not to draw attention to myself.” 

There was a burst of laughter from the other side of the room and Albus and Scorpious turned to see Daniel trying to suppress his giggles.  
“I’m sorry Albus, don’t get me wrong, but do you really think that you can just ‘keep your head down’? You’re Harry Potter’s son, who was just sorted into Slytherin, you made friends with the son of Draco Malfoy on your first day, and you’re also--” He trailed off, looking a bit sheepish  
“Crippled?” Albus finished, a small smile playing across his face.  
“Um, yeah, that wasn’t the word I was going to use, but I guess you get my point.”   
“Yeah, I do, and you’re right. I guess what I should have said is that I’m not going to draw any more attention to myself by whining to the Headmistress. I figure if I just make it very clear that I don’t want or need help, then they’ll just leave me alone eventually.”   
“Do you think that will work?” Scorpious asked  
“If it doesn’t, maybe we can play some pranks on old McGonagall, just to get her mind on something else.” Daniel gave a mischievous wink “I must say the Weasley side of your family is of far more interest to me than the Potter side. You, my friend, are related to the owners of the best joke shop in the world.” The other two boys, who had been listening silently, pretending to be getting ready for bed, dropped all pretenses at the mention of the famous joke shop.  
“Can you get whatever you want from there?” One of them asked eagerly. Albus vaguely remembered him introducing himself as ‘Caden’ at dinner, and the other one was ‘Amon’.  
“Do they tell you all about the new products they’re working on?” Amon cut in before Albus could answer the first question.  
“Uncle George will be so proud to hear how popular he is.” Albus said with a laugh, “And to answer both of your questions, no, I don’t unfortunately; but it’s mostly because Mum would kill them if they kept me and James supplied with joke products. Especially James.” 

They spent the next couple of hours talking about joke products and pranks they or their siblings had played. No one was actually paying attention to the time, and they were shocked to realize how long they had been talking when Timothy came in looking rather grumpy and sleepy and told them to hush and go to sleep.   
“Light’s out was over an hour ago.” he huffed, glaring at all of them one at a time.   
“Sorry Timothy” Scorpious said and they all chorus their own apologies before Timothy left, muttering something about ‘obnoxious first years’. Not wanting to incur his wrath again, they all finished changing into pyjamas and crawled into bed. Albus smiled to himself as he lay there in the dark. He had been prepared to be the freak of the school, and he had prepared himself to fight to be treated as an equal, but he was pleasantly surprised to realize that his year mates actually seemed to like him regardless of his disability or who his parents are. With one last thought in his mind, he drifted off to sleep, still smiling, his worries temporarily forgotten.

Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I am so sorry it took so long to get it posted. I hope you continue to enjoy this story even though I suck at updating lol. Comments are always appreciated and you can also yell at me on twitter @LadyKnightEllen


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